1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to devices for retrieving golf balls.
2. Prior Art
Golf balls frequently fall into bushes and ponds where they are beyond an arm""s reach. Accordingly, various golf ball retrievers have been devised for recovering balls from inaccessible places. For example, a retriever disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,214 to Zimmers is comprised of a claw on the end of a long arm. There are curled fingers on the claw for hooking a ball. The fingers are short and converge together. Because the claw is very narrow, placing it precisely over the ball would be very difficult by manipulating the long arm. A retriever disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,374 to D""Luhy is comprised of a pair of hooks hinged to the end of an arm. The hooks are loosely hinged, so that if they are pushed along the bottom of a pond or into stiff bushes, they would be rotated to a rearward pointing direction and would not be able to pick up the ball.
A retriever disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,413 to Jeninga is comprised of two loops positioned one on top of another at the end of a long arm. The loops are lowered around a ball, and a pivoted gate between the loops is operated to trap the ball between the loops. However, the gate cannot operate on tall grass, which would tend to push the gate up when the retriever is lowered onto the grass, and keep the gate from operating.
A retriever disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,981 to Wilson is comprised of a rake with several hooked fingers radiating out from the end of a long arm. The rake is so wide that it cannot go into bushes or through fences. A retriever disclosed in U.S. Pat. 5,326,145 to Lee is comprised of a pair of flexible loops on the end of a long arm. The loops are pushed against the ball to force the ball between them. However, the force required to open the loops tends to push the ball away before the loops open up to admit the ball.
A retriever disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,915 to Quinn et al. is comprised of a rake with hooked fingers. The distal ends of the fingers are angled downward, so that the ball would tend to fall out. Another retriever disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,062 to Schwartz is comprised of a pair of hooked fingers on the end of a long arm. Intermediate segments of the fingers flare outwardly to guide the ball into the hooked ends, but their angular shapes also tend to trap the ball between them and prevent the ball from reaching the hooked ends.
Accordingly, the objectives of the present golf ball retriever are:
to retrieve golf balls from places which are beyond a hand""s reach;
to be narrow enough to reach into thick bushes and through fences;
to be rigid for reliably pushing through bushes, tall grass, fallen leaves, mud, etc.;
to have no movable parts for reliability;
to guide the ball inside for reliable capture; and
to be easy to clean.
Further objectives of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.
The present golf ball retriever is comprised of a telescopic arm, and a claw rigidly attached to the distal end of the arm. The claw is comprised of a pair of laterally spaced fingers joined at their proximal ends by a curved horizontal connecting bar. The fingers are respectively comprised of guide rails forward of the connecting bars, backwardly curved hooks forward of and downward from the guide rails, and backwardly directed straight extensions at the distal ends of the curved hooks. The fingers are generally parallel to each other when seen in a top or bottom view. The extensions are parallel to the rails when seen in a side view. The outer span between the fingers is no greater than the diameter of a golf ball. The rails are adapted to guide the ball toward the curved hooks. The extensions prevent the ball from falling off the hooks.